Larry DeSimpelare is the commissioner of the Crossroads League, which is arguably the best NAIA conference in the country when it comes to combining national-level competition and an emphasis on character-building. The Crossroads League has schools from the state of Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Before becoming a commissioner, Larry served as a collegiate men’s basketball coach at Cleveland State University, Rutgers University, Kent State University, Eastern Michigan University and Concordia University. Along the way, DeSimpelare helped guide those programs to three league titles, eight NIT berths and four NCAA bids, where he helped Eastern Michigan take out Duke and Cleveland State upend Wake Forest in a pair of opening round upsets.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- The importance of loyalty and how he stayed with head coach Gary Waters for more than 20 years and at 3 different jobs
- His journey to becoming a collegiate conference commissioner
- Future Hall of Fame football player Antonio Gates playing basketball at Kent State University